Build?

[FinchLover&Breeder]

Hey guys it's me Nick again. As a lot of you know I got another bird cage for my birthday a little while back. However now I need your guy's help. I want to build a custom shelf system to hold the cages on but have no idea where to start. Can you guys give me some ideas and stuff? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

Just a thought but...A lot of people are remodeling their bathroom these days. I've seen complete vanities advertised on CL for free. Take off the sink and top, paint or refinish the rest and you have a nice flat surface for your cage with plenty of storage space underneath.

[FinchLover&Breeder]

Just a thought but...A lot of people are remodeling their bathroom these days. I've seen complete vanities advertised on CL for free. Take off the sink and top, paint or refinish the rest and you have a nice flat surface for your cage with plenty of storage space underneath.

That could work. But in case I don't find one does anyone else have any ideas?

[Gracie85]

Well, what I've done (and this is probably not helpful to you, but I just gotta say it) is to buy big sturdy double wide flight cages, the ones on stands, and then stack the smaller cages on top of them.
Then you can get more finches for the big cages, as well as your existing finches in the smaller cages.


But seriously, it depends on the size of your existing cages, especially the depth of them.
You could put shelf/shelves on the wall, but you have to make sure that whatever brackets you use to hold them up are rated for both the weight of the cages, and the depth, how far out from the wall they will project, as a heavy weight six inches from the wall needs less support than a heavy weight 18 inches from the wall.

Go to a Home Depot or Lowes and look at shelving units. Many of the metal ones have adjustable shelf heights, so you can fit them to your cages. Some are better looking than others, and you can also get whatever strength/weight you need.

Go look at entertainment centers and shelves and armoires and see what strikes your fancy as far as the look, and that would fit your cages, many units have adjustable shelves, or you could leave out some of the dividers (make sure they're not structurally necessary) in order to fit your cages the way you want to.

A cabinet, a tall dresser, sometimes furniture like that will also do what you want to. Depends on your space and ideas.

[FinchLover&Breeder]

Gracie85
Thanks. That might work. I have the You & Me Finch flight as one cage I just got for my birthday and the other is kinda like the one below that I got when I bought them. I like the idea of cage with stand and stacking with the option of getting more but we have to remember money doesn't grow on trees (but I did just land my first decent paying job at my sister's house while I stay here I can make on average at least 14 dollars a week. I get a dollar for each cat box each day I clean them and since she has 2 cats for now that's 14 bucks in the bag right there. Then I get 50¢ a bag for taking the trash out and 2 bucks if I cut either the front or back yard when it needs it. There are a few other odd and end things but don't want to make this too long. I am mainly saving money to pay phone bill of $25 a month but after 3 weeks at my sister's house I would have that made plus extra for on the side.) and stuff like that costs a pretty penny.

[Gracie85]

Keep an eye out for yard sales where someone is selling off old shelves or furniture that you might adapt for your cages.

In fact, if you find something like that, perhaps the seller would let you work for them to earn it, offer to help them clean up and put back all of the unsold stuff at the end of the day, bring it back out the next day, sweep the garage while it's emptied, rake the yard, wash the car....whatever they might need or want done. Maybe you'll get lucky and someone will trade you what you want for what you can do for them. Otherwise, save up your money and check for the sale shelves at HomeDepot or Walmart, they do have some inexpensive ones on occasion.

[FinchLover&Breeder]

Found a guy that might be willing to give me some wood. What would I do with it once I have it? How would I make the shelf?

[Rob]

Go to your local hardware store and you can find shelf brackets for pretty cheap. The one's I use can hold over 500 pounds. From the same hardware store, usually in the lumber area, you can find melamine board for shelves. It comes in different widths, and is the cheapest option you can find. More expensive options would be plywood, or something more complicated. The great thing about this method is you have plenty of space below the shelf for storage, or you can leave the floor open giving the impression of more space.

What I did was take 1x4s, one laid on top of each bracket, and then on top of those, boards running down the length. Here's a view of it before I stained it (I took it off the wall to stain it).

20170425_232031.jpg (41.75 KiB) Viewed 1599 times

Key thing to note when working with pine, it will warp quite quickly. Assembling it the same day you buy the wood is ideal.

[FinchLover&Breeder]

Rob
Cool. That might just work. How big should I make it so it holds both of my cages?

[Icearstorm]

FinchLover&Breeder

Take a tape measure and record the widths of the widest part of the cages for the length of the shelf. I'd recommend adding 6"-12" extra onto the shelf length so you can sit some supplies on it. The depth of the shelf should be around the same as that of the deepest cage. My cage slightly overhangs the piece it sits on; the configuration is stable, though it doesn't look great.